All Smoke and Mirrors
by Starcrust
Summary: A/U - Bulma has found evidence of alien life and sets out on an adventure turning out to be far more complicated than she could ever imagine. Perhaps some light O/C and in later chapters content rated M.
1. Chapter 1

**The cover is made by Kamikaze_666 at devianart; all credits for the picture go to the artist – another fic inspired by this great picture is "Insignia" by **_**Piccolo is green**_**.**

**I wrote the foundation for this chapter when I wanted to participate in a challenge at the B/V community "We're Just Saiyan" at Google+, but I never managed to complete the story then. Now inspiration has finally hit me, and I will give the story another try, I hope you're going to like it!**

**Thanks to InspiredDitto for betaing! It would have been a clumsy chapter if she hadn't helped me.**

* * *

Stars were scattered all over the black space of emptiness. Some so far away they appeared not to move, others close enough for her to see how she passed by. The scenery was beautiful – even breathtaking.

Or it would have been if Bulma Briefs hadn't spent the last seven weeks traveling through space, slowly getting tired of the non-changing scenery around her. She clicked her tongue and decided to check in on the others traveling with her. She didn't have anything else to kill time with anyway… After positioning herself in front of the screen Bulma looked to her right and spotted the ship accompanying her. She typed in the necessary codes and waited for the other to pick up her call.

"Any news Ms. Briefs?" The man on the screen was her deputy commander. General Mallen had been the only general that didn't oppose the idea of a woman leading this mission. It was this foreign open-mindedness that landed him and his most trusted men to be chosen to accompany her. No matter how many times she asked him to call her Bulma, the general wouldn't drop his formal tone.

"The computer still says ETA is five hours, I just wanted to check in on you guys." She was tired of only being able to talk to someone through the computer. After much deliberation, it had been decided that she would be the one to attempt to contact the alien life on the planet they were heading for. The other ship containing a total of 20 soldiers was only traveling with her due to the real threat that her life may become endangered. She tried not to lament about how ineffective 20 men were against an entire race on a foreign planet. Being left alone with one's own thoughts for so long made it difficult to focus on anything else.

"We are fine, Ms. Briefs, don't worry about us." The line was cut in the same instant and Bulma sighed. How had she gotten herself into this? She knew all too well it was her own fault. She should have done as her father had advised her to and kept her mouth shut but Bulma Briefs wasn't one to sit tight and do nothing.

A year before her mission started several theories about aliens shaping the history of the human race had begun to swarm the internet. Even serious news-channels had mentioned the most popularized theories.

New religions had gained strong footing across the country and more than a few dozen had become widely popularized and accepted. More were believed to be on the way. When the most outlandish of the religious communities had begun human sacrifice as a way to bring attention to themselves from intelligent life in the same manner as those in mankind's past to appease gods and deities, the scientific community banded together to try and disprove these theories. Evolutionary biologists, archaeologists and astronomers had worked together to disprove the theories but what they found was not the answer they had been looking for.

The research had ended up showing the theories could quite possibly be true.

Capsule Corp had been requested to deliver develop machinery and equipment to aid in searching the universe for underdeveloped life to try out the theories. Bulma's father had, as the CEO, declined every request. He had founded the firm to help humans have better, easier lives not to – as he had expressed it – waste money on sending garbage into space.

But Bulma had been intrigued by the ideas and decided on making satellites and drones to fulfill the task at hand. Dr. Brief had accepted her choice but told her he wouldn't let his work be delayed by hers, meaning she could only use his labs outside office hours. She had ended up turning her day upside-down, sleeping the day away and working through the night. During some of the early hours, when her hands had been covered in grease and a pile of metal, wires and tools had made less sense than her overstrained mind she had cursed her father for making such a great obstacle for her. Later she had realized he had done so in an attempt to deter her from the project he himself was so much against.

Her work had been sent into space and months had passed with no reward for her efforts. Bulma had begun to work for her father again, her former employer had checked in on her less often and the news had focused on anything else but the ongoing human sacrifices. Life on Earth had pretty much gone back to the way it was before. But then one day Bulma received pictures and readings from a drone, turning everything upside-down.

Once again the news went crazy with headlines about aliens and life in outer space – but this time they were based on actual scientific knowledge. Bulma's drone had encountered mechanically built devices and traced their origin to the planet she was now on her way to.

Although the decision to visit the planet was fueled by her curiosity and hunger for a much-needed adventure, there was a nagging feeling that something was missing in her life. She had everything a 21 year old woman could wish for – except for a boyfriend… After several disastrous attempts with dating Bulma had decided to give it a break and focus on Capsule Corp instead. Fancy men only interested in her body or money had her fed up and she was about to lose all hope in ever finding a man who would want her for who she was: Bulma Briefs; a smart, short-tempered woman with a sharp tongue but a great heart. Not the beautiful multi-billionaire everyone was focusing on.

Bulma looked to her left and watched the star their destination planet was orbiting for a bit before getting out of her seat to grab some food. She didn't want her stomach to start growling suddenly when having her first encounter with aliens.

* * *

The landing went as perfectly as if Bulma had practiced it several times on location. All the readings told her she could walk out of her ship without needing oxygen-supply or the anti-gravitation-boots she had made. Even though everything seemed perfect, she could feel her stomach tighten a bit.

_What in Earth's name am I doing?_

She walked to the gate of the ship and waited for it to open while going through the most basic things General Mallen had told her: "_Don't stand to your full height, it might seem aggressive. Don't make eye-contact at first and talk with a soothing tone._" After taking in a deep breath Bulma stepped outside the ship and was taken aback by the giant crowd of purple aliens, all looking at her with their seven pair of eyes. Quickly she shot her gaze down and cleared her throat to say something.

"Welcome, earthling. We are happy to see your journey went well." Bulma's head snapped up and she looked at the alien in front in pure surprise. Had he just spoken Japanese? "You must be tired by your travel – and confused. Please allow me to show you our hospitality while answering whatever questions you may have."

The alien, who was speaking, walked to her side and gestured for her to follow with one of its four hands. It was a bit smaller than the surrounding aliens, but they all seemed to respect it and moved aside when it walked past them with Bulma following a few steps behind. They soon arrived in front of an orange house which was grander than all the others around it. She was given a tour of the inside and was surprised by the beautiful interior in all kind of colors. The alien offered her a chair and they sat down opposite each other with a table between them.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Qaklu. I am the leader of the third quadrant of the planet Azkur. May I ask what your name is?"

"Bulma Briefs," she stammered, still a bit shocked by hearing the weird creature speaking Japanese.

"Then, Bulma Briefs of Earth, I welcome you to Azkur! You may ask me all you want to know." Qaklu shifted to position himself better in his seat while looking at her with anticipation.

"First of all, how do you know I'm from Earth?" Bulma had a hard time staying focused on her host. All the colors in the room made her gaze wander on its own. A frame, which seemed to show, changing sceneries, was the thing making it hardest for her to focus – it couldn't be pictures from Planet Azkur only. If it was, the planet would have to have plants, oceans and even clouds in every imaginable color.

"The people of Azkur travel to planets with intelligent life and guide them, help them grow. Our god, The Grand Shifter, has given us his blessing by giving us intelligence and craftsmanship thus making us able to proclaim his wisdom throughout the entire galaxy. But as he let us grow our own civilization, we let other species go through the same progress. We have also been on Earth. Even though we have been interpreted differently throughout your history, we are happy to see how humans have developed themselves enough to seek us out and help us reach more planets to proclaim The Grand Shifter's wisdom." His voice was soothing and the fear Bulma might have had disappeared with every word he spoke.

Bulma looked at Qaklu in pure astonishment. This planet and its inhabitants were what those _experts_ had been talking about the whole time! Even the location in Orion's belt had been foreseen by them. If she hadn't been the one to talk to this strange creature she would never believe it. All those theories had always seemed outrageous to her.

"Have you been keeping track of us the entire time?" She asked. The alien nodded. "But, how did you contact humans… Your look would freak us out!" She could have bitten off her own tongue. It was one thing to talk like that back at Earth, but to say such a thing to an alien without knowing whether he could kill her in an instant or not was about the most stupid thing she had ever done!

A weird, wheezing sound escaped the purple alien. By the look on his face Bulma decided it had to be some kind of laughter. "Oh, my child, you are a bright one. Of course we couldn't contact humans in our own form. That's also why The Grand Shifter has given us the technology to do as he himself can do: change our form to look like the people we contact. He even helped us make the technology I am using right now to talk to you in your native tongue."

"Wow, that's amazing!" she said in an attempt to make her host forget her earlier blunder. She was about to ask him more but was interrupted by the beeping of her watch. "Excuse me," she said and pressed the answer button. The tiny LCD screen lit up with General Mallen's normally stoic face. The high definition of the screen made it easy for Bulma to see his features – he looked genuinely worried.

"Ms. Briefs, are you all right?" A nerve in his upper left eyelid started jumping. "You have been at the planet for half an hour without making contact."

"Yes, I'm fine general. I have been met with great hospitality so don't worry about me." Her answer didn't seem to ease the general, but she was way too eager to go on with her conversation to take note of it.

She was about to end the call, but was stopped when Qaklu said, "Please tell your companions they are welcome to land if they want to."

Bulma nodded and looked down at her watch once again. "My host says that you and your men are welcome too, general." She could see skepticism in the man's eyes. "But if you prefer to stay in the spaceship I won't force you to do otherwise."

"We will be staying in orbit, Ms. Briefs, to keep contact with Earth." Once again General Mallen cut the line before letting her say anymore. Sighing in annoyance, she turned the contact-program off and looked at her purple host once again.

"As I was about to ask…"

* * *

The room was filled with chatter, all in Japanese in honor of Bulma. She looked at the aliens around the table. To think those people had shaped history of the Earth and many other planets was unimaginable. The fact that they had done so by playing 'gods_'_ was something she wasn't quite sure she was comfortable with. But the hardest part to wrap her head around was the fact that this meal was a celebration of one of their 'children' being mature enough to take on the role of 'god_'_ on another planet. She knew her mission from the start had been to try the theories on other species, but it had suddenly turned out a bit differently than she had anticipated.

Qaklu had informed her about a planet that was at the ideal developmentation period when first contact was usually made. He was vague about the details when she had asked for more information. He finally gave in to telling her that it would all be explained to her the following day.

A number of azkurians had a great deal of questions about life on Earth. They were intrigued with how their past guidance allowed the humans to develop technologies advanced enough to travel the great distances of space. Most of them were guiding planets at lower developmental state than Earth's, and they hoped to find the breakthrough in human history. When she was finally given a private room to rest in Bulma almost collapsed on the bed completely exhausted by all the questions and explanations.

The following morning, Bulma felt completely rested after finally spending a night where she wouldn't be disturbed by the computer's navigation system every few hours. As soon as she left the room she was greeted by an azkurian who escorted her to the room where the grand dinner had taken place. This time the table was filled with all kind of foods that reminded her of fruit and baked goods. Being directed to sit next to Qaklu, she settled comfortably into the seat.

"Good morning, Bulma Briefs. Did you sleep well?" The purple alien took her plate and put a bit of everything on it. When she nodded and thanked him for the food Qaklu smiled at her. "Have you considered my proposal? I do believe I have a planet you could start your first guidance on."

Bulma took a bite of a turquoise fruit. It tasted bitter and made her lips curl before the sweet aftertaste soothed them. In her attempt to mask the unpleasant taste, her hosts were kind enough to ignore the failed attempt. "I have given it a great deal of thought, and as I told you yesterday, one of the reasons for my journey was to partake in other worldly development. But please, tell me more about the planet you have in mind."

He ate a bit in silence before looking at her. "Let's wait until we have enjoyed this meal bestowed by The Grand Shifter."

Bulma nodded and turned her attention towards her food once again. She wondered how these people could have any belief in a higher power when they played the role of god themselves.

* * *

Bulma looked around and tried to take in the small, cozy room she had been given to stay in. Its colors were darker than the rest of the rooms she had seen and it somehow made it seem like the perfect place on Planet Azkur to discuss the matters at hand. She sipped the brew – which she thought was the azkurian version of tea – she had gotten and tried to ignore the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Finally the door opened and Qaklu entered the room. He sat down opposite of her with his own cup of the sweet and spicy brew and looked out of the window in contemplation before turning his attention towards her.

"The planet I will offer you to guide is populated by dark-haired, tailed humanoids and I therefore believe it will be easier for you to interact with them. The saiyans, as the race has chosen to call itself, are great warriors but their cultural and technological development is slow and almost non-existent. One of the greatest leaps in their culture is also the one that has given us difficulties to make them believe us to be gods." Qaklu was silent for some time. Bulma sat patiently waiting, hoping that by not interrupting his thoughts he would answer the questions already beginning to form about this humanoid race.

"Several generations before our first contact one of them became what we have chosen to call a supersaiyan. They interpreted the blonde hair, blue eyes and golden aura as a sign of something other-worldly and called the supersaiyan 'The Holy'. This supersaiyan had such an enormous amount of power coursing through him that his body couldn't handle it. The power, in its attempt to free itself of his body's confines, shone around him in a spectacular golden aura. His eyes reflected the green of emeralds. His hair turned to a brilliant gold. We thought of using the tale of The Holy to our own advantage and made devices to make the power of a person increase or decrease. Unfortunately it turned out that the saiyans, whose power we tried to increase, died because of the power crushing all their internal organs."

Bulma felt her stomach clench while a chill ran down her spine. Qaklu's tone was flat, emotionless and matter-of-fact while talking about the saiyans they had killed by this experiment.

"On the other hand, we had great success with decreasing the power of the saiyans in a short amount of time, and now the time has come to use this knowledge. Another supersaiyan has been born and is now the leader of the greatest tribe on the planet. We believe it will be possible to decrease his power enough to remove the look of a Holy. By having this ability we can hopefully convince the saiyans we were the one to give them this gift. After earning their trust the opportunity to teach them mathematics, astronomies and so on will finally be there." The purple man suddenly had a look of eagerness and optimism but Bulma found it somehow disturbing. "Just imagine it; such a magnificent, strong race being guided by The Grand Shifter."

"But if they really are that strong, how would I ever be able to perform as a god? The idea of showing them I have the ability to make The Holy a normal saiyan sounds a bit… risky." She hoped her voice wasn't shaking as much as her hands. She didn't know if she was beginning to share the azkurian's excitement or if it was unease causing this reaction in her. It was as if the butterflies in her stomach couldn't decide whether to flutter happily or fight for their life to get out and away from the purple man.

"Why would that be, child?" Qaklu seemed confused. Bulma thought there must be some techniques of the azkurian people he hadn't told her about yet.

After taking a short sip of her brew she asked what she thought to be the most obvious question, "If I threaten their leader, wouldn't the rest of the tribe attack me?"

At Qaklu's laughter, low and wheezing, Bulma was certain there was more to them than they were letting on. Something about this race made her uneasy but their technology was far superior to what she had designed.

"Oh, my child, you really are bright! That would indeed be a possible outcome. Let me show you the device you're going to depend on from here on out." The purple man stood and walked to the door, only waiting briefly for Bulma to follow.

* * *

Once again Bulma was surrounded by stars. Two days had already passed since she had left Planet Azkur and taken off towards Planet Vegeta, as the azkurian had named it after The Holy. She studied the watch-like device secured snugly against her wrist. It was genius – she had mustered impeccable self-control to not take it apart and try to figure out how it worked. She got out of her seat and walked to her room, eager to try the _shifter_ as Qaklu had called it. She had been instructed to wait 36 hours, for the shifter to acclimate to her body's chemistry. The waiting period was finally over. She had been told that the shifter had been set as the azkurians had seen fit and she was curious to see what they had done.

After going through a brief tutorial of how to use the five buttons Bulma activated the camouflage, as the 'god-get-up' apparently was called. At first she was sure there was some kind of problem. There were no changes at all! Suddenly she noticed it. A tail. It was the same aqua-blue color of her hair and eyes… Her eyes! They were not blue anymore, but golden! She pressed another setting on the shifter and her skintight jeans and V-neck t-shirt were replaced by a beige knee-length dress with pearls sewn throughout the fabric, making her new tail an even brighter blue. The skin on her chest was exposed in a seductively provocative manner. It was perfect. As she was admiring her new look a beeping from the shifter caught her attention. She pressed a blinking, purple button on the screen and a hologram of Qaklu appeared.

"My dear child! When you see this message, you will have had some time to see your godly appearance. I hope you like it, but if not, you can change it as you see fit by using your shifter. You may under no circumstances take the shifter off – it is the only protection provided for you, an invisible shield of sorts. It will protect you from the natives' attacks as well as the great gravitation of the planet. I hope the members of your team are getting accustomed to their shifters too and the use of them will be unnecessary." The hologram disappeared and Bulma looked in the mirror once again. She had seen some pictures of the saiyans and she was certain her blue hair and tail combined with her golden eyes would make them believe that she was a god. Even though she had been reluctant about it, she was starting to come to terms with her role as a goddess. Settling into her assignment this easily was frighteningly comfortable.

Bulma sat down in front of her computer and opened one of the documents she had gotten from the azkurians. After studying about this race, she was beginning to look forward to meet a new culture, even though it was in an unnatural fashion. She knew the names of 5 saiyans, the four leaders on the planet and one former leader.

The Sarpam tribe was led by Burdock, who she thought would be easy to recognize by his somehow unruly – even for saiyans – hair.

The Kamei tribe was led by Naveta, a tall and wiry man lacking the muscular physique of his race. His hair was short but spiked like all other saiyans' and he had a long beard with two braids.

The Kebun tribe was led by Nazup, a short, wrinkly man with no hair but a white beard all the way down to his navel. According to the computer he was the oldest saiyan on the planet.

The Pera tribe was led by Vegeta, the saiyan who had transformed into The Holy. He was of medium height but his hair, which looked like a flame on top of his head, made him appear almost as tall as Burdock.

Qaklu calling them great warriors wasn't an understatement. She could tell by the look of their bodies where only muscles on top of muscles could be seen… with the exception of Naveta of course.

Bulma looked through some of the videos she had been provided before getting out of her seat once again. She caught a Briefs glimpse of her new appearance in the mirror as she walked to her bed. To think such few changes could give her such a different air… Her stomach clenched in excitement as she got into bed and hoped the next two and a half weeks would soon be over.

* * *

Just as last time Bulma took a deep breath as she waited for the gate to open. She, Mallen and the rest of the crew had landed on an isolated island where none of the saiyans lived. They had decided on Bulma being the leading god, General Mallen and Sergeant Niel would be her servants as far as the saiyans would know. In reality they would be there to make sure she would be protected if her shifter suddenly stopped working. She didn't want to overthink what would happen if the device suddenly stopped working. Especially having the 10 times higher gravity in mind…

She was greeted by the two men who had left their ship as quickly as possible so the rest of the soldiers could get into orbit and keep in contact with Earth. All of them were in their god-outfit; the two men had very short, spiky hair, making them look a bit more saiyan-like compared to her straight blue hair. Their clothes were loose; the black trousers had a band just above their knees as their white tops, which had a V-neck down to their navels, had a band just above their elbows.

"Are you ready, Ms. Briefs?" General Mallen asked, unable to hide the wandering eyes traveling across her body. The way the soldiers, always professional, snuck glances in her direction confirmed that she indeed looked like a goddess.

"As ready as I will be," she said as she scrolled through a menu on her shifter. A few clicks later and she was hovering in the air. They all headed to the village where they were told The Holy resided. Bulma was mesmerized by the scenery passing underneath as she flew across green oceans and blue land, all beneath a red sky.

The thrill of flying without use of machines or mechanics was freeing. She had trained on her ship as soon as she discovered the setting but it paled in comparison to the rush of the wind on her face.

The tiny device was amazing! It should even be able to deflect objects, including people, if they were heading towards her too quickly to make sure she would be unharmed – she really hoped it worked, considering the great power she had been told the saiyans held.

After flying for ten minutes they spotted the village and slowly landed on what appeared to be the village-square. The small houses around them were made out of blue and brown bricks with matching roofs, which made them a grand contrast to the dark, almost black stone-roads. A few saiyans had pointed and shouted as they saw them flying towards the square and as soon as they had set foot on the ground they were surrounded. Bulma looked around and was met by black eyes in hard faces. They all seemed confused but it was clear they were ready to fight against the three strangers. The silence hung thick between them as the tension rose. Bulma had expected some sort of communication letting her know how unwelcome they were. Instead, the saiyans just stared at them.

"I seek Vegeta." As soon as the name of the man left her lips, confusing chaos erupted around her. Some of the saiyans started shouting, clearly upset that she would use his name instead of using his designated title of The Holy while others leapt towards them with hands balled into hard fists ready to swing. Mallen and Niel stepped closer to Bulma, all three of them silently praying that the shifter worked as planned.

It did.

When the saiyans attacked, they were deflected inches before making contact with their target. Some were knocked to the ground by the massive ricochet from their powerful punches. Others were thrown off balance from the invisible field protecting the strangers.

Yells of confusion and disbelieve flowed through the attacking crowd. Even as some of the bystanders chose to join the attack, all were stopped by the protection of the shifters. After several failed attempt to land an attack, the saiyans began to realize they were facing an impenetrable force and moved cautiously away from the three humans.

"Who are you?" asked a man as he took a step towards them. Bulma recognized him from one of her documents – Nappa was easy to tell from other saiyans by his massive body and lack of the typical black, spiky hair. He was the former leader of the tribe but had been forced to back down from his position when the saiyan named Vegeta had transformed.

"I will only speak to the man named Vegeta," Bulma said and watched as the face of the giant man hardened further. "Let me speak to him and all your questions will be answered in due time." It was amazing how she could form a sentence in her head in Japanese and then the shifter turned it into the saiyans' native tongue once the words left her mouth.

Nappa mumbled something incoherently under his breath. He then waved for them to follow and started heading towards the largest house on the square. He went inside without knocking and walked into the middle of the sparsely decorated room. "The Holy is in the temple of our ancestors." Nappa made almost no effort to hide his annoyance. "I don't know if he will return today or tomorrow." Holding back her sigh, Bulma's impatience grew. She wanted to get started immediately, nerves already on edge from the hostile greeting she had received in the square.

"Then we will find him." Turning around with her two bodyguards in tow, Nappa's massive frame cut off their exit.

"Our leader is seeking guidance from the world beyond and I will not let you interrupt him, no matter who you are." It was obvious that he wasn't joking, but Bulma was serious too. She had no intention of letting the hairless monkey-man stop her.

"Your decision will cost you dearly," she threatened. Folding her hands behind her back, she fiddled with the shifter's dial. Turning it to the setting she had enough foresight to memorize, she slowly brought her hands back to her front. Having the shifter set to temporarily cut off her target's power, she lifted her left hand towards the fleshy obstacle in her way. A low buzz from the shifter sounded. Nappa's eyes widened in confusion. Gripping his chest tightly, he crumbled to the floor where he after a few cramps lay unable to move but still fully conscious.

"What did you do to me, wench?" snarled the fallen saiyan with fear lurking in the corner of his eyes.

"I made your place clear – beneath me," Bulma said coldly as she walked past the growling man and out of the house. A nagging voice in her head was scolding her for acting so harsh and unforgiving. Telling herself that he hadn't been permanently harmed and would recover eventually, she dismissed the thought. Qaklu wouldn't give her ways of hurting the saiyans permanently… right?

A crowd had gathered around the house, summoned by Nappa's grunts of agony followed by the sound of his heavy frame hitting the floor. Bulma's head tingled with the power she had welded, however the sensation was short lived. Embarrassed by the surrounding crowd gazing at her with worry and fear, she realized that maybe being a god to be feared wasn't as appealing as she thought.

Slowly Bulma rose into the air and was soon followed by her counterparts. The air between the three of them grew tense. She could tell they wanted to say something but their military training had taught them not to question their superiors. The awkward silenced ticked by until Bulma finally broke the silence. "What is it?"

"What do you mean, Ms. Briefs?" General Mallen asked a bit too fast.

"What is it you want to say?" She could barely hide her annoyance. She was a social person and several weeks in isolation had made her eager to finally have some human interaction, but the military men didn't seem to share her eagerness.

"I just… Wouldn't it be wiser to be kind to the saiyans instead of agitating them by using the shifter to harm them?" The man sounded genuinely worried – he still doubted the shifter would be able to protect them from a saiyan's wrath.

"You might be right, but their hierarchy is based on pure strength so if we don't prove that we are able to take their power away, they will never accept us." She could still see the doubt in Mallen's face, but Niel seemed convinced. "But we don't have time to change our strategy now. If we don't get to Vegeta before he gets the news about us from others, our entire project could go down the drain."

* * *

**Please tell me what you think!  
I don't know when the next chapter will be ready – I'm also working on 'Cinder and Smoke' with InspiredDitto (find it at her page), which we probably should try to update soon… but I just got home from 2 months in Vietnam and she's busy with work, so no promises!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well hello my dears! I'm so sorry it's been so long :'( A lot of stuff have happened since last update.**

**I've moved away from home, started studying chemistry at University of Copenhagen and gotten a tiny kitty – well, she's not the reason I haven't been writing, she actually enjoys lying next to me when I sit and work at the computer, but studying sure takes it time… And then, when I finally have some time off, I'm completely bummed out and have no inspiration whatsoever. But now I have summerbreak (I can't believe I've already studied for a year, that means I'm 1/3****rd**** into my bachelor degree!) and I hope I will have some time and energy to write. I had a couple of days to relax and then I could just feel today how I couldn't wait to sit down and write.**

**It's not the entire chapter I've written today, I would say 2/3****rd**** of it was already done, I just had to finish it up and make it all fit together.**

**This chapter is un-betaed, so I'm sorry if it's all messy and full of bad grammar.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The grand temple was breathtaking. Its deep green color was the greatest difference between it and the pyramids back at Earth. Another major one was the great entrance and the flight of stairs leading up to it. By looking closer an overflow of details came into sight. What seemed to be roughness of the stone were actually small carvings – it looked like they had been placed carelessly. Some of the round carvings were filled with a light blue powder and a small number of those were connected with thin, white stripes. At night it would look like a mirror of the stars.

If they hadn't approached from the sky, Bulma doubted they would have found the temple this quickly. It was placed in a massive clearing in the thick, jungle-like forest. Several paths lead to the clearing, but none of them were visible from the air. The way to the temple for the saiyans was a long, dark one through tunnels of heavy trunks and blue leafs.

"Mrs. Brief, I think it will be wisest to get inside," Mallen said. He and Niel were looking around like her, but not in search of Vegeta – their shoulders were tense with unease of being exposed in the open area while surrounded by the dense forest. "It seems our target isn't outside."

"So it seems," Bulma said and walked up the first few steps of the stairs. She could sense her companions following close behind, mimicking her steps carefully. Even though the two humans could only offer her close to none protection it put her mind at ease to know they were there. When only a few steps were left before they reached the entrance Bulma stopped and turned around to look at the men behind her.

"Remember to call me Bulma," she said and sent them a smile. "I will present myself by my first name, which means you calling me otherwise would be a problem." The two men nodded but she could see in Mallen's eyes it would be a challenge for him.

When they entered the temple it felt like a curtain was dropped on top of them. The air was heavy with moisture and a strong smell similar to herbs and incense filled their nostrils instantly. The temperature was several degrees higher than outside despite the open entrance. Bulma cleared her throat, the heavy atmosphere around her made it harder to breath. She shot a quick glance at Mallen and Niel. They both appeared to be unaffected.

Slowly they began their exploration of the large structure, checking each area the main corridor lead to. The walls were bare to her surprise. Bulma had expected they would be heavily decorated, perhaps with similarities to the hieroglyphs found on Earth. Instead the rooms they looked into were so pompous it made up for the lack of decorations in the hall.

The first room they entered had purple walls, white floor and a silver ceiling. From a chandelier of glass golden strands draped the room. The light was scattered by the glass and made small specks of lights in the golden strings, creating the illusion of a dew-wet web in the morning light.

The next room looked quite similar, only the color of the wall was changed to green.

The third room was completely empty. So was the next four.

Suddenly the three humans found themselves in an enormous room, which was much more impressive than the first rooms they had encountered. The walls were pure gold with silver and black squares placed in a seemingly random order all the way around. Once again golden strands hang from a chandelier, but this time it was made of silver and not glass. Underneath the chandelier was a massive stone table with lines cut in it and a hole in each corner.

Moments passed by before the three of them could take their eyes off the table – it had too great a similarity to an old operating table to be overlooked. Mallen was the first to tear his gaze of the unpleasant sight and turn around to leave the room. Bulma decided to follow him shortly after – she had spotted some brown stains on the gray marble she had no intention to inspect further.

As she was about to leave the room Bulma noticed several cuts in the floor as well, all leading to some holes where the golden strands were attached to the wall just above. Curiousness took over and she moved closer to see what the deep carvings hid. A slight feeling of nausea hit her as she saw a green vase with brown trails down its sides. Pictures of hauling humans, raising bowls filled with blood over their heads while screaming at the sky flashed before her eyes. She felt a sting of regret. The last incidents of human sacrifices had been carried out after the news of her drone's discovery had been told to the wide masses.

Bulma could feel her two companions looking at her patiently from the doorway. After a tiny shake of her head to clear her thoughts she straightened her back and walked out of the room without looking back. Even though the room had been cooler, it was like a heavy burden lifted of off her when the dampness of the hallway embraced her once again.

Unnerved by the sight, their search became more hurried. To cover ground more quickly, the three split up to search the rooms by themselves. The heaviness between them left no room for discussion. The bloodstained table had reminded them of the brutality embedded in sacred rituals from the primitive cultures that founded their own society. _"Even though underdeveloped races pray to other gods, their ancestors or the Azkurians, we see all places, buildings and days other races have made holy as their way of praising The Grand Shifter. Therefore, we cannot violate what others see as holy." _Qaklu's words seemed to echo ominously through the dim corridors. Even though it sounded like an act of courtesy rather than a rule that needed to be followed, they had agreed upon doing so.

By each passing minute used on checking empty rooms while moving deeper into the massive temple Bulma's impatience grew as well as her uneasiness.

_How can a glowing man be so damn hard to find?_

"Bulma…" The sound of her name startled her and she tripped by a crack in the floor. She felt a pair of strong arms grab her.

"Are you okay?" Niel's eyes were filled with concern as he helped her regain her balance.

"Yes I'm fine, I was just surprised when Mallen spoke," she stammered and took in a deep breath. The heavy air and the now dim light made her nervous.

"I'm sorry," Mallen said in a soothing tone. "As I was about to say, don't you think we should…" A sudden flick of light down the hallway interrupted him and they all turned towards the curve of the corridor, where the light intensified.

"Who's there?" The question sounded like a bark, the anger becoming clearer by each time it echoed down the hallway. The troupe tensed up and Bulma bumped into Mallen as she took a step back in fear with the involuntary preparation to run.

When the source of the light came into sight she muffled a gasp. The only pictures provided for her had been of a normal Vegeta, but they were nothing in comparison to the man, who was now looking warily at them. He heart flew into her throat as she tried not to show how much fear his voice had caused her to feel – and it had even been nothing compared to the sheer terror running through her veins at the sight of him.

His entire figure was engulfed in a golden aura so bright it almost hurt her eyes after walking in the dark for so long. The charged air around him made the hair on her arms stand even though there was some distance between them. His hair was golden – even close to white. She felt like the blue eyes studying her could look into her soul and reveal every thought and secret she had.

"Who are you?" he snarled. The raw energy emitting from him send a chill down her spine.

"I am Bulma," she said. Her voice trembled a bit. The look on the saiyan's face turned harder, his eyes narrowed a bit while his upper lip curled up in a snarling grimace. Adrenalin coursed through her body as the vibe of the glowing man in front of her became one of a predator.

Mallen, whom she was still standing up against, let his hand brush the back of hers. The small soothing gesture snapped her out of it, and she felt her resolve come back as strong as it had been on the day she had set off from Planet Earth to begin her adventure. She had not come this far to chicken out! She took a step towards the alien in front of her, showing no sign of fear.

"I am Bulma, goddess of this planet. I've watched your race for a long time, waiting for a strong leader to appear, and the day has finally come." This time her voice was strong and confident. "I have given you the power to help your people prosper. I have put my mark on you, like I did with the holy before you. To my great dismay he never unleashed his full potential, so I had to wait for generations for another man worthy of my mark to be born."

Even though his skepticism was clear a tiny flick of pride slowly made the anger subside in the blue eyes. "Liar! If what you tell me is true, then why have the elders never told me about you? Why have I never been asked to prepare for a meeting with a goddess?" His choice of word told her she was dealing with a much greater mind than that of Nappa's.

The fact that he had asked her questions instead of denying everything she said made her believe her mission could be accomplished. A feeling of optimism helped push down the last remains of panic and cleared her mind. The story she had made up on her way from Planet Azkur had seemed bulletproof – now it had to stand its test.

"You, Vegeta, are the first of your race I have shown myself to." The sound of his name made the wary saiyan's eye twitch. "The saiyan race is very dear to me, but much like a parent can't solve all the problems ones child encounters, I have tried to let you overcome your obstacles on your own. One day a man was born with such great potential I had to ensure others would listen to him. So I marked him for others to see he was special. But he never unleashed his full potential, because he, just like a child who is given a complicated tool, lacked guidance." She could see her last sentenced angered the man in front of her. It was even possible to feel in his energy crossing the room. "I realized it too late, and he had grown old and tired without helping your race evolve. And so, I had to wait once again. But finally a new man worthy of my mark was born, and I made sure your race acknowledged you as the leader like they did before. This is why you now are ready for my guidance to help the saiyan race grow."

"What nonsense is it you're telling me woman?" The saiyan's eyes had become small slits. "If you indeed are a goddess, then you should be able to do a lot more than making a man Holy." It was obvious he dared her to show some kind of power, like she had expected.

"I am, but I will not do anything inside this building, where your ancestors rest. Please walk outside with me, and let me answer all questions you may have." She gestured for him to walk the way leading outside before turning around. Mallen and Niel looked uncomfortable when she turned her back to the puzzled saiyan, but none of them said anything. Their shifters had protected them against a whole village, so one saiyan, even though he was stronger than the others, should not be a problem. But once again, Qaklu's warning against the use of the shifters inside the temple filled their minds.

The four of them walked through the corridors in silence. The only sound the walls seemed not to swallow was the sound of their footsteps. Even the low crackling of the energy engulfing the saiyan couldn't be heard, even though Bulma walked right next to him. It felt like the wall began to close in on them and she had to force herself not to walk faster than the man beside her. Her urge to speed up became even greater when the entrance finally came into sight.

She promised herself to never set foot in the temple again as she finally filled her lungs with cold, fresh air. Each step down the stairs filled her body with energy and helped clear her thoughts. The man next to her clearly had a greater mind than the giant she had made fall back in the village, but no brain had ever seemed to match hers.

As soon as their feet touched the blue grass Bulma could sense a major change in the glowing man's attitude. He had taken a step away from her now standing with his feet slightly spread and his hands clenched into fists too carelessly hanging down his side. Mallen and Niel had taken their positions just behind her and she was certain they got the same bad feeling from the smirking saiyan.

"You said you'd answer any question, correct?" It was more of a demand than a question. Bulma nodded and the saiyan continued. "Then please do tell me," he said in a mocking voice, "why…"

In the blink of an eye Bulma felt like a cushion of air was pressed against her and tried to make its way around her body. She could barely keep her balance and had to take a small step backwards to not fall to the ground. The men behind her both took in a sharp breath as they were clearly hit by the same force as she.

In front of her stood an agitated and confused saiyan. Vegeta bared his teeth and took a swing against her once again, this time slow enough for her eyes to follow his hand. An angry snarl emitted from deep in his throat as he was pushed backwards by the shield around her. He gritted his teeth and jumped towards her once more.

Bulma clenched her teeth hard enough to feel the muscles in her temples start to cramp. She had to stay neutral or else the attacking alien would see right through her bluff. Her inside was trembling with fear as her instincts yelled at her to run. But she couldn't – no she wouldn't – run, or else all her preparations would be a waste of time.

Folding her arms behind her back she found the right menu while trying to look unaffected by the yelling man, who continued to try to harm her. She had to try several times before she felt sure she had accessed the correct menu. Slowly she let her arms rest in front of her, folding her hands patiently. All she could do now was waiting for an opening.

The saiyan had stopped trying to attack her and was now standing a couple of feet away from her, breathing heavily. It seemed to be out of frustration rather than exhaustion. "Why…" he said once again. Confusion and disbelief had replaced the mocking tone. Just as Bulma was about to point her shifter at him, Vegeta let out a roar and jumped towards her once more. The force she felt from every hit he tried to land made Bulma's pulse rise even more, pumping adrenalin into her already panicking body, but she had to put her fate in the shifter to protect her. After a few futile blows Vegeta got away from the trio. His blue eyes were filled with anger and resentment.

_Now!_

Slowly Bulma raised her arms and pointed them at her target. A low buzzing sound emitted from her wrist as she turned on the shifter. She kept her facial expression neutral with great effort. The adrenalin combined with the sight before her made it almost impossible.

Watching Nappa spasm and fall to the ground, unable to move, had been one thing.  
Watching Vegeta was completely different, almost horrifying.

His first grunt had been pure surprise. Now raw yells of anger and pain filled her ears. The golden aura flickered around him, the time it was absent grew each time it disappeared. She felt the hair on her neck stand as she watched the man in front of her fall to his knees. His face was contorted in pain as he grabbed his head while falling down on his elbows. As the aura flicked for the last time his hair became black. Letting out a haul like a wounded animal he fell to the ground as his arms gave away underneath him. Seconds ticked by without any of the four people in the clearing moving.

The first sound to break the deafening silence was Bulma's footsteps as she slowly walked to the fallen man. She got down on both knees, ignoring the conflicted expressions she could sense out the corner of her eyes from Mallen and Niel. The adrenalin had begun to ware off but she could still feel her heart beat fast as she watched the saiyans eyelids flutter open.

A pair of brown eyes stared at her. The initial confusion soon vanished and was replaced by fury.

"You," he said his throaty voice as low as a whisper, "what have you done to me?"

"Given you proof," she replied in a soft tone.

* * *

"Proof?" He tried to get up on one arm, but it gave away underneath him once again. He bared his teeth at her once more, snarling as he did so. He could feel his face contort in pain as the impact with the ground slowly moved through every fiber of his body, leaving a mind shattering throbbing sensation behind.

"You said I should be able to do more than just make a man holy. And so I've done." She kept looking into his eyes, making his inside boil with anger. The throbbing had only subsided as he tried once again to get up. This time his arm supported him for a few seconds before the muscles gave up. His entire body echoed of pain, and he bit his own tongue to stop himself from letting out a shout of pain. "Do you still not believe me, Vegeta?"

The sound of his name falling so naturally from her lips once again made him make up his mind. He took in a deep breath, ignoring the ache in his chest and rolled onto his front. To his own dismay he let out a grunt as he finally was able to support himself and get up on all four. His arms and legs shook violently underneath him, but he refused to fall down yet again.

Slowly, with all his willpower mustered, he raised his head and looked at her with determination shinning out of his brown eyes. His pride wouldn't allow him to show how much his body actually hurt. All of his muscles were trembling and he could feel his vision begin to blur.

He watched her emotionless expression and felt anger well up in him once more. This unknown creature had inflicted him more pain than anyone had ever done before, and he had been unable to land even a single blow.

"So you can make a man holy and afterwards take away that power. Proves nothing to me." He spat towards her, hoping he hit her as his vision was now completely gone. The sound of something wet hitting skin and her men's outburst of anger filled him with triumph as his body finally gave up and he fell to the ground and into darkness.

* * *

Bulma slowly rose from the ground while wiping the saiyan's spit off her cheek. Mallen and Niel were at her side now, looking at the unconscious man. "Are you alright?" Mallen asked her, scanning her face with concerned eyes.

"I'm fine," she responded quietly still wiping her cheek. Her brain was working at top speed, trying to figure out how to react when the saiyan woke up. Things had gone completely different from what she had hoped. She believed her plan of gaining the saiyan's trust through showing she was superior to him had backfired. It could turn out he would be even harder to get close to now. The race might be primitive in their hierarchy build on strength, but this man had turned out to have too much pride to bow down to her instantly.

"What should we do now?" Niel rolled the saiyan onto his back. "I never thought he would pass out. Nappa didn't do so, he was just paralyzed." He opened one of Vegeta's eyes and the pupil responded slowly to the light.

"I don't know yet," Bulma said and looked at the man lying at her feet. She was a bit shaken by the situation. Absentmindedly she looked at her shifter while her thoughts ran through different possible outcomes of the situation. She scrolled through the menus and an idea started taking form in her head. "Let's wait for him to wake up. I'm sure it won't take too long, or do you think otherwise?"

Niel checked the saiyan's eyes once again before shaking his head no. "His pupils are already reacting faster than before. I think he'll wake up any minute now."

* * *

Never before had it been so hard for him to open his eyes. When he tried to lift his hand to rub them he found his arms to be so heavy it almost felt like they were tied to the ground. He groaned as the memories came flashing back. Some blue-haired wench had done this to him. The aching and throbbing pain were no longer residing in his body, but all his muscles felt soar and tired. He closed his eyes once again, trying to focus on his breathing while letting his energy slowly move from his core and out to his limbs. Slowly the feeling of his body began to become lighter, his breathing became easier and he could start moving his fingers without a problem.

Hesitantly he tried to sit up; he was well aware he was being watched. He could feel the eyes of his spectator burning on the back of his head.

_What a disgrace._

Vegeta got up on his feet and turned around to the golden eyes staring at him. She looked calm and… bored? The thought agitated him.

"So you're finally awake now." Her voice sounded almost disappointed. "Took you long enough."

"Shut up," he tried to yell, but his body was still too shaken and it was only a hoarse whisper.

"Are you sure you need more proof from me, Vegeta?" She slowly rose from the stone she had been sitting on and walked leisurely towards him. Her blue tail swung in an easy pace behind her, matching her step. His eyes were fixed on it. How come he hadn't noticed it before?

"Being able to take away what you claim to have given to me, how can that be a proof?" He tore his eyes of the hypnotizing movement off her tail and focused on her face instead. When he saw she was calmly smiling he felt a chill run down his spine much to his dismay. Nothing, especially a woman, should make him anxious. But his body remembered the overwhelming pain and once again sent a shot of fear through him.

"Very well," she muttered and looked up. He waited a few seconds but her eyes kept looking into the sky. Slowly he gazed in the same direction. Right above them the two men accompanying her were hanging freely in the air. Vegeta felt his eyes widen as he shot his gaze down again at the woman just to see her rise into the air and up to her companions.

"What sorcery is this?" He took a few steps backwards in pure astonishment, feeling yet another tremble coursing through his body.

The woman smiled at him, but this time her smile seemed genuine and not as threatening as the one before.

"Now tell me, Vegeta, do I need to show you more?"

He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth while looking up at her. He knew she couldn't just be a Sarpam woman, who had used a new type of elixir like he first believed her to be. He could fell his pride hauling at him when the thought that she might be superior to him hit him. But… His tired muscles were still reminding him of what she had been capable of without even touching him.

"No," he said, his voice not as hoarse anymore. "I believe you." He shot his gaze downwards and took a deep breath. After telling his pride to subside for a moment, even though he found it almost impossible to do so he heard his own voice say: "I'm sorry I doubted you, goddess."

* * *

**Please tell me what you think! As I said before the chapter, I hope I will be able to write some more during the summer.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, I can't believe half a year has passed since last chapter. But on the other hand it seems to be much longer since I last posted something. I had 1/3 of the chapter when I began writing today, but I was suddenly hit by the urge to write, so I did! I guess that's what attending two boring courses and no energy to study because of the dark winter gives me. I won't make any promise about when the next chapter will be out. I have opened the document a couple of times but just not had any inspiration. It finally hit me today, but it might be gone tomorrow. So I wanted to get this out and about at once, which also means it's un-betaed! I hope it's not too clumsy and mess.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

A loud roar echoed down the street. The women walking by looked at each other and shook their heads. Their former chief had always been known to have a greater temper than the normal Pera male. But this time it seemed worse than usual. "You can't be serious, why should we…"

"Nappa!" The bark made the big man flinch as he stopped in the middle of a sentence. "This might be too much for your little mind to grasp, but I thought you would at least be able to follow an order." Vegeta massaged his temple, trying to ease his headache a bit. It was no longer as throbbing as it had been the last few days, and normally it wouldn't bother him. But this headache was a constant reminder of what had happened outside the temple, and each time he thought about it, it seemed to get worse.

"But your Holiness, I…"

"Shut up!" He snorted at the bald man. It had always been a mystery to him why Nappa had been second in command during the war when his own father had been chief. He had only let him keep his position because it had been the easiest thing to do. "I have decided for the woman to stay at my house. It is the best in the village, and we cannot offer anything less to her." It wasn't something he had offered on his own. After his power had returned they had taken off for the village. As soon as it had come into sight the woman had stopped and told her servants to leave – she would call for them if needed, but she believed Vegeta and his people would take good care of her. He was about to continue but the big man could no longer keep his mouth shut.

"I know but why must we do whatever she bids like some sort of animal? She's a woman!" A vein in Nappa's forehead began to pulsate as he stated the obvious. His tail had loosened itself and was agitatedly swinging behind him, but it stopped dead in its track when Vegeta smacked his fist down at the table, splitting it into two.

"Next time it's your head I'm gonna hit! So shut up, and do as I say!" Vegeta yelled at the dumbfounded man. Despite his constant headache Vegeta's mind hadn't been laying around, and he had given the whole ordeal quit some thought. But it would all be in vain if he couldn't convince Nappa to do as he said.

"We have to make sure she gives all her knowledge to us. As long as she believes I'm the one worthy for her guidance all she has to offer will only be given to Pera. So yeah, we're going to do what she tells us, so she doesn't decide to leave or help another tribe." He sighed as he watched Nappa's eyes slowly light up, showing he had finally understood what Vegeta had told him four times already.

_To think he can even breathe and walk at the same time is unbelievable…_

"Which also means that even if you hear me say something you see as a disgrace or a lie, you keep your big fat mouth shut, got it?" He watched Nappa knit his brows in confusion. "Just keep quiet unless you're asked a question when she's around." Nappa opened his mouth, about to say something but Vegeta interrupted him. "That's an order!" Vegeta hissed as his shout send a soaring pain through his head. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down a bit, hoping it would take some of the pain away. "Unless you want to see my father sooner than later you do as I say!" he spat, trying with all his might not to show Nappa how much he hurt.

The bald giant closed his mouth and nodded in agreement. But the vein in his forehead was still pulsating.

* * *

Bulma shifted her position slightly, rubbing her right foot which had begun to hurt. She had a bad habit of sitting on top of it when she was absorb in work. The floor of Vegeta's living room was filled with papers and Bulma was sitting in the middle of it while she memorized the night sky of the planet. The Azkurians had given her detailed maps and named some of the most important constellations. They had even provided a table, where she could learn how the slight shifts in the night sky during the year could be used to tell when the seeds should be sown and when the crops could be harvested.

"The Hunters have to be completely visible over the horizon before the soil is ready…" she mumbled to herself while making sure she was looking at the right table. Even though each table was easy to read, she had received a table for each tribe and those were split up into different tables if they couldn't account for all the villages. The Kebun tribe had five separate tables because its villages were covering such a great area.

"As soon as the third hunter's right foot is gone grains can be harvested. But the second hunter's left foot has to disappear too before the cabbages are ready…" Her fingers played with her hair while her golden eyes were shooting around, trying to get as much information as quickly as possible. A sudden knock at the door startled her and she had to hold back a yelp of pain as she had pulled her own hair because of the shock. Franticly she gathered all the papers in a pile and got them capsulated.

"Yes?" Her pulse was pumping in her ears. She had been so engulfed in her papers she hadn't noticed the flashing light of her shifter. It had been programmed to warn her if someone was in a radius of five meters from the front door.

"Ms. Bulma, may I enter?" A woman's voice called to her from the other side of the door.

"Please do."

A beautiful woman stepped into the room with her gaze firmly on the floor. "Excuse me," she said in a low voice. "It is time for me to prepare your dinner. I will be in the kitchen if you need me."

She was about to leave the room, but Bulma stopped her. "Cucum, would you tell Vegeta I would like him to have dinner with me?" The saiyan woman peered at her with eyes wide open when she used Vegeta's name, but she quickly shot down her gaze.

"Of course, I'll go and tell His Holiness immediately."

Bulma uncapsulated the papers as soon as she was alone. She quickly found the table for the Pera tribe and the list of names and capsulated the rest once again. After giving it a last, short overlook she packed the papers away under the pillow in the bedroom. Now it was time to begin her first real task as a goddess.

* * *

The people on the street turned their head as the chief's son came running by them. Raditz had a worried look in his eyes and he hadn't even reached his destination before the villagers began talking about it.

"Father!" Burdock looked at his son in surprise as the long haired man came barging through the door. "I have news of great matter from Beetra's trip to the Kebun village!" He slammed the door behind him and sat down in front of Burdock. "It concerns The Holy."

"The Holy?" Burdock knitted his brows while gesturing for his son to take a seat. "Why do they have news about The Holy?" All kind of reasons began forming in his head, but he chose to ignore them. His wife had always called him a worrywart before the incident. Since then she had been the one to worry about everything and he had forced himself to become calmer in order to support her. Their son, who had only been 10 at the time, had turned into a man of few emotions due to his mother's breakdown.

"They were on their way back. They walked through the jungle… even though I have told Beetra several times not to…" Raditz was looking down at his clenched hands, mumbling the last sentence twice. Burdock tried not to tense up, but seeing his son freak out like this made it hard not to.

"What happened, Raditz? Is Beetra alright?"

"Yes!" Raditz' head snapped up, his eyes wide open. He nodded a couple of times and seemed to relax a bit. "None of them are hurt or anything. But they saw a… a blue haired woman. And it looked like she, and the two men with her, tortured The Holy." Burdock could no longer force himself to be unaffected, and he tensed up just like his son seemed to do by every word he spoke.

"Beetra was shaking… it was almost impossible for her to tell me what had happened. She said…" He took a deep breath and looked out the window. Burdock could see his son's hands tremble. "She said The Holy lost his aura. His hair became black. It was like he turned normal." Raditz voice trembled too.

"Son, look at me." Burdock could see a hinge of fear in Raditz' eyes, like he expected. He wasn't sure if he could suppress his own or if his eyes showed the same fear to his son. "Tell Beetra to gather the people she was with and send them to me. I need them to explain to me exactly what they saw. And make sure no one else hear this. We need to make sure The Holy has indeed turned back normal. If the word spreads now it will only bring fear and uneasiness to our people."

Raditz nodded and got up. He was almost at the door when he stopped and looked back at his father. "What if it's real? Then what?"

Burdock took a deep breath and swallowed to try and get rid of his dry throat. "Then we will once again be at war."

* * *

He knocked harder than he meant to, but the agitation of knocking on his own front door made it almost impossible not to just kick it in. His ongoing headache wasn't making it easier either.

"Yes?"

"It's me," he said loud enough to reach her through the door and loud enough to send a jolt through his head.

"Please do enter, Vegeta!" Still unused to hear his own name after 10 years, Vegeta entered his house in a roughly manner. He was greeted by a tiny squeak from the woman he had assigned to help the goddess. She had been frightened by his angry appearance.

"Is something the matter?" The blue haired woman sent him a smile which angered him even more.

He pressed the palm off his hand against his right temple to try and release some of the pressure inside his head while shaking it lightly. "No nothing at all, Ms. Bulma."

"Please, just Bulma is fine," she said as she pointed at the seat opposite her own. "Sit down and have something to eat." She looked at the woman standing in the middle of the room with her eyes cast down. "Thank you Cucum, you may leave." A look of relief spread across her face as she looked at both off them and hurriedly left the house.

Vegeta sat down at the table while keeping his eyes at the goddess' face. Her relaxed attitude made him uneasy. His body still remembered the pain he had felt some days ago and his mind remembered the humiliation which had followed. A sudden pain hammered into the back of his head. He was taking so much by surprise he couldn't help but close his eyes and growl even though he had promised himself not to show his pain in front of her.

"Vegeta, are you all right?"

"Shut up! Does it look that way to you?" His head was now throbbing so badly he couldn't care who he was talking to. He scrambled out of his seat and started pacing the room while massaging his temples. After a short while the pain had subsided enough for him to sit down. The blue haired woman had watching him quietly the entire time. As he sat down she slowly began to eat her food like nothing had happened. Dumbfounded he looked at her until she finally looked up from her food.

As her golden gaze met his he felt a rush of adrenaline and another stab of pain in his head. This time it was only hurting briefly. Her eyes were quietly questioning him why he had not yet begun to eat. She looked at him for only a few seconds before she once again returned her focus to the food.

"Its excellent food Vegeta, you really should try it," she said after another moment without him moving. "I'm very pleased with Cucum, thank you for assigning her to me." Her words of gratitude seemed sincere and Vegeta was taken aback even further. She seemed different. It was like she had changed during the few days since he last saw her. He had by all means tried to avoid her since he had showed her to his house.

They ate in silence for some time. Every now and then he glanced quickly at her. She finished eating before him, not just because she began first but also because the amount of food he shoved down was nearly thrice as much as what she had eaten. She then proceeded to look out the window, still in silence. As he took his last bite his curiousness got the better of him.

"Why did you want me to eat with you if you have nothing to say to me?"

"I do have something to talk to you about, Vegeta. But it seemed to me your head hurt, so I thought I would at least let you eat in silence." She turned towards him and her eyes bore into his. He couldn't tell whether her smile was genuine or not. Maybe he had been too quickly to think she had changed since last time. "Would you have preferred not to?"

Vegeta huffed at her question. His head began throbbing slightly again. Moments went by and as she realized he had no intention of answering with more than the grunt she continued.

"I want you to gather the chiefs of your tribe. First of all I want to greet them. Second of all I want them to hear what I have to teach you too, so they can go back to their village and guide them." She got up and went to the biggest window in the room, looking out at the night sky. "And I want you to take Nappa with you. If he is left here unattended I fear I will have to be the one watching him…" Her matter-of-factly way of speaking made the anger boil inside Vegeta. To be sitting in his own house, getting orders from a woman, listening to her threatening one of his men was infuriating. But he kept his composure even though the throbbing intensified.

"That will be it," she said and turned towards him once again. "You may leave." He slowly got out of his seat and walked towards the door. "Wait," she called out to him. He stopped dead in his track and closed his eyes. His head was hurting more than ever that day, he just wanted to get out and away from the woman – he was sure her presence was the reason it got so bad so suddenly. "Sit down again."

He turned around and was met by her calm gaze. He tried to look indifferently, but knew he failed. Inside he was boiling. He wanted to get out. As he sat down she walked around him. He could feel her just behind him; it almost felt like he could sense her body heat. Suddenly he became aware of her heartbeat. It was slow and calm, much calmer than when he had seen her in the temple. Just as he was about to turn around and look at her he felt her hand on his neck. By pure instinct he tried to grab hold of her arm, but his hand was repulsed.

His pulse rose quickly. "What are you doing woman!?" The outburst sent such tremendous pain through his head he felt like it would split. Groaning he pushed against his temples with the palms of his hands, but it didn't help. The woman said something, but he couldn't hear her over his own outbursts of pain. A buzzing sound cut through to his sensitive ears and a tiny screech followed it. He tried to braze himself for the pain bound to follow.

But nothing happened. Slowly Vegeta let go of his head, as he realized all pain was gone. He became aware of the woman's pulse against his neck and scrambled to his feet to get away from her.

"How are you feeling now?" She looked at him questioningly. His pulse was still through the roof and he had no idea how to respond. "Better it seems," she said when he kept silent. "You may leave now."

Vegeta left the house without a word, trying not to storm out. Her ongoing change in attitude during this brief meeting had left him with a chill down his spine.

* * *

Qaklu was sitting in his own thoughts when he heard a knocking at his door. "Enter." He felt a big smile across his face as he saw Lalun come through the door. "Aaah, Lalun, perfect timing, perfect timing indeed." He gestured for the man in charge of Planet Vegeta to sit next to him as he made some room in his sofa. "I have just spoken with our dear earthling. She seems to be doing well. She has just called for all Pera chiefs and she is planning to teach them about astronomy."

"I see. That's great news." Lalun sounded nervous and as he cleared his throat Qaklu feared what was to come. "But I'm afraid I have… well not bad news, but not so good news."

Qaklu sighed deeply. The other man had an ability to think a problem was either bigger or smaller than it really was. "Then tell me Lalun."

"The last agent we had at the planet was rejected by his shifter this morning."

"Lalun."

"I've sent a team to pick him up…"

"Lalun."

"…but I have no new agent to substitute him." The man kept talking, ignoring Qaklu wanted to interrupt him.

"Lalun!"

"So I came to ask you if we could…"

"LALUN!" Qaklu raised his voice, something he almost never did, and his subordinate finally shut up. "That is far from 'not so good news', this is bad news and really bad timing on top of it." He got out of his seat and started to pace forth and back. "You know as well as I do, that we have no agent in this quadrant that can become a humanoid. The last two was unofficial help from my relative in quadrant two, but he cannot help us anymore."

Lalun looked at the floor. "Uhm sir. I… I thought, maybe we could use the humans?"

Qaklu stopped dead in his track and looked at the other man, who shrank two sizes under his gaze. "That's out of the question."

"Sorry sir. I… I will look for another type of agent." The stammering man fiddled with a small loose thread in the sofa so he could avoid Qaklu's gaze.

"What qualifications do you need?" Qaklu began pacing once again.

"I need an agent who can turn invisible. But the agent must also have the ability to fly so greatly, that he or she can do so all the time they're near saiyans. Their hearing is so great our agent would be detected otherwise." Lalun looked carefully at his superior, waiting for his response before continuing.

"Fine, that should be manageable. Anything else?"

"Uhm… Uhm… Actually yes."

Lalun flinched as Qaklu yelled at him: "Then tell me!"

"As I said the saiyans' hearing is great, so actually we need the ability to mute the beating of the agent's hearts and his breathing." Lalun spoke quickly and peered at Qaklu's face when he had finished. The other man didn't look happy.

"I will contact our researchers and the other quadrants to hear if anyone has come closer to this ability. If we could do so it would all have been so much easier." Qaklu sat down in a chair and looked at Lalun. "Did your agent have any news he got before his shifter rejecter him?"

"Yes!" Lalun lit up as he felt like the worst part was over. "He heard some rumor in the Sarpam head-village. They talked about war might break out once again."

"What? Did he hear why?" Qaklu felt dread fill his body. All his optimism about the mission at Planet Vegeta was gone.

"No unfortunately not. The women he gossiped with had just heard someone else say it. They had no idea why, but they seemed to believe something was going on."

"Is Burdock still chief or has he left the tribe to his son?"

"Burdock is still chief, sir. But the Sarpam tribe is quiet weak when it comes to battle, so I highly doubt they would be the one to attack. But sir…" Lalun took in a deep breath before he continued. He already knew Qaklu would be far from happy. "The rumor began the day after the earthlings arrived. I think they have something to do with it; there hasn't been a rumor of war the last decade. Something must have happened to Vegeta, otherwise no one would even think about war."

Qaklu sighed once again. Indeed this mission was not closer to its end than it had been before he had been blessed with the earthlings. If it continued this way they might turn out to be a curse instead. "That could be a problem. He closed his eyes and tapped at his cheek for some time.

"Sir?" Lalun quietly spoke. "Have you told the earthlings about the war?"

"No," Qaklu said in a harsh tone. "If I had told her, that blue haired one would start asking questions. If I gave her the right answers she would never help us. Humans still have too high a moral." He shook his head in dismay. "And if I gave her untrue answers she might end up talking about it with the saiyans and ruin everything."

"But sir, what if she hears of the war from the saiyans?" Lalun could feel a nerve in his cheek start to spasm. Unfortunately he hadn't been through the worst part yet it seemed.

"Isn't it you, who have assured me time and time again, that the saiyans never speak off war, when I asked you?" Qaklu's tone was ominous. Lalun flinched a bit when his superior looked at him with cold eyes.

"Yes sir, it is. But now they have. And as I said, I believe it's because the humans did something to Vegeta." Lalun had pulled the thread out of the sofa and was now twirling it around his fingers, trying to avoid the other man's eyes.

"You may be right," Qaklu said in a tired voice. "I will think about what to do now. Meanwhile I want you to try and make up a story we can tell the earthlings. They have to seem all-knowing to the saiyans but they will not know all we have done. If we just tell the history of the saiyans as they believe it to be, I doubt the blue haired woman will be satisfied. She will demand to know what we have done so far."

"Yes sir, anything else?" Lalun quickly got up, ready to leave the heavy atmosphere.

"No not for now. But I want you to report to me every day from now on. Those humans may be more difficult to use than I imagined."

* * *

**Please tell me what you think – I bet those of you who felt those azkurians were nifty no longer just have a hunch! I hope I will be able to write some more, I can feel how much I've missed it, but as I said, I cannot make any promises.**

**So if I'm not uploading anything before I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah or whatever you might be celebrating and a happy New Year! (If you would like to have a little Christmas story, and have not read it yet, I made an advent calendar 2 years ago called Christmas at Capsule Corp. Please check it out!)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I'm not even going to comment on how long it has been… Just noting it's the same stuff every time, and it isn't making any difference whether I write it or not. So yeah…**

**But still, sorry for the long wait! Sorry to those of you following me/the story, I'm sure the sight of an update from my side in your inbox might have started thoughts of an incoming apocalypse (okay, I think I've commented enough on how long it's been since last chapter now).**

**This one's written yesterday with a read-through today before publishing. It is non-betaed and written by a Dane, so I apologize for bad grammar and maybe a weird choice of words sometimes.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Uargh!" Bulma grabbed the pillow from the bed and slammed it to the ground. After stomping around for a few minutes she finally sat down and took a few, deep breaths. Five days had passed, and the four Pera chiefs were still questioning her authority even though Vegeta had told them to listen to her several times. The thought of using the shifter against them showing them how easily she could take away their power had grazed her mind, but she had dismissed it. Vegeta's clear display of pain when she had called for him had terrified her. If the use of the shifter left the victim in pain for several days she only wanted to use it as a last resort. She had been pleased to see the healing-feature of the shifter had helped Vegeta - it had minimized her feeling of guilt for putting him through the physical and mental pain outside the temple.

A red flashing light from the shifter drew her attention and she grabbed the pillow from the floor and threw it onto the bed. Just as she left the bedroom she heard the soft knocks at the door and Cucum's low voice asking for entrance. Bulma answered the door with a smile, trying to ignore the nervous twitch the gesture caused in the saiyan woman. "Please do enter Cucum." The woman entered with her gaze firmly at the ground and quickly made her way into the kitchen. A sting of loneliness hit Bulma but she chose to ignore it. She had chosen to leave earth, she had chosen to accept the azkurians' offer and she had chosen to play this role of goddess. No one had forced either of those things on her, and so she felt she could not complain.

While she waited for her dinner Bulma wrote down all she could remember about the astronomy regarding the Pera tribe. She was pleased to see she had remembered everything – correctly on top of that – when she checked with the tables and instructions she had gotten from the azkurians. It had only been out of boredom, since she had gotten everything right since the first time she had tested herself. Her entire life she had always remembered everything she had read, heard or otherwise come to know of, so it wasn't surprising her. Somehow she still got insecure about it, the thought of teaching this knowledge to other while playing the role of an all-knowing goddess made her nervous since she wouldn't be able to tell the saiyans she had made a mistake. Not that she had ever done so when teaching others, but being unable to take one wrong step made her feel like the thin line she was walking was even harder to balance on top of.

"Your dinner is ready, Ms. Bulma." The small voice of Cucum yanked Bulma out of her thoughts and she quickly collected the papers and capsulated them before leaving the bedroom.

"Thank you, Cucum, it looks delicious." A pot of a steaming hot dish, best described as ragout, was filling the room with a sweet yet spicy aroma and made Bulma realize how hungry she actually was. "I'm glad Vegeta assigned such an excellent cook for me," she noted as she smiled at the saiyan woman. Cucum was bowing her head as usual but Bulma could see a small smile forming at the corner of the woman's lips for a brief moment.

"Thank you, please enjoy your meal." A bit less skittish than usual Cucum left the house and Bulma to herself once again.

The food was indeed delicious, and Bulma even had more than she should – she was still not used to the crops of the planet, they somehow caused a greater sense of satiety than earth crops. A portion the size of what she would eat back home made her feel completely stuffed. And today she had taken a bit more than that, which she paid dearly for now as her stomach almost began aching from too much food. She willed herself to set the rest of the food aside and do her dish before going into the bedroom and lying down on the bed. She had only closed her eyes when her shifter suddenly began beeping.

Bulma quickly got up and tried to figure out what to do – she feared if any saiyans were just outside the house they would hear what was going on inside of it. She punched at the blinking button and suddenly a hologram of Niel appeared before her like Qaklu had done when she was on her way to Planet Vegeta.

"Niel," she whispered, still cautious of the possibility of eavesdropping saiyans, "I'm in the center of a village, I can't talk!" He heart was beating so hard her voice almost drowned in the sound of her own pulse. Niel nodded and the hologram disappeared. With a sigh of relief Bulma dropped down onto the bed again, waiting for her heart to calm down.

* * *

Naveta let a hand caress one of his braids as he stared out of the window, looking at the setting sun. It was the worst kind of news he could think of he had just received, so he had to think things through. He had called for his chiefs, but it would still take two days before they all would be with him, so he had time to think.

A gathering of the Pera-chiefs. It was something he thought – perhaps even hoped – he would never hear off. Such a hostile tribe with fights among its own villages, for their chiefs to all meet up something was about to happen.

He had lost his two sons to the war and his wife to the lack of will to fight her own wounds after watching their youngest son pass away. His brother was missing an arm and one of his nephews had also lost his life during the dreadful fights more than a decade ago. His tribe had spent years to lick their wounds and get back on their feet when the war stopped. If not a Holy had appeared, and the war had continued, the Kamei tribe might not even be here anymore.

Just because of the false accusation against his tribe.

Had all tribes fought each other it would have been either Pera or Kamei as the last tribe standing. But the focus on his tribe had spared Sarpam and Kebun, since their only casualties by Pera hands had been warriors targeting them to get resources. Sarpam and Kebun had only targeted his own tribe – Pera had seized the opportunity to let their violent nature run loose, trying to get their only actual enemy wiped clean of the planet's surface.

Naveta left his house and walked down the main road of his village, heading towards his brother's house. They had much to discuss: tactics, which kind of weapon to make more of and which to stop producing for now. And most importantly how much more training and instructions his nephew had to get before being able to replace Naveta as chief of the tribe.

* * *

It was chilly outside, but Bulma didn't mind. She had fallen asleep after her scare with Niel's call, but it had been so early in the evening she had woken now, in the middle of the night. The thought of why he might have tried to contact her had made it impossible for her to fall asleep again; therefor she had decided to take a walk to get away from the village and try to contact Mallen. The village was quite, a nice change of pace from the normal buzzing. As she reached the edge of the village she was surprised to see two heavily build men guarding the terrain. Bulma decided just to walk past them and only speak to them if they addressed her. The only exchange when she left the city was the men's gazes, but none of them said anything to her. After ten minutes or so Bulma was certain she was far enough away from the city to be out of earshot. The trees in the small cluster she had walked into would also make her harder to spot, should someone look in her direction. She swiftly looked through the menu in her shifter and found what she was looking for.

Niel's face quickly appeared in the form of a hologram. "Hi Niel, I'm sorry for the trouble earlier."

"No, I'm sorry, I should have thought about the risks of contacting you like this. General Mallen is aware of the situation, and it won't happen again." It almost looked like he made a tiny grimace when he mentioned the other soldier's name. Bulma could only imagine the scolding Niel would have gotten when the general realized what had happened. "The reason I contacted you was to forward a message from your parents."

"My parents?" Bulma felt her pulse rise a bit. Her father had been traveling her entire life, attending conferences or doing research all over the globe – something she had done herself when she had reached the age of 13, if her mother had not been too worried about it possibly stressing her she would have done it even earlier. For the first couple of years she had always been accompanied by one of her parents, but from the age of 15 she had traveled alone. The feeling of being homesick had never been present, and she hadn't thought much of home since leaving earth, but at the mention of her parents she suddenly felt a twist in her stomach.

"Yes, they have sent a message. I tried to see if it was possible to send it like text to your shifter, but I couldn't find a way. So if you would like it, I could read it to you?" Bulma nodded slowly, trying to ignore her elevated pulse.

Niel cleared his throat and read out loud: "Dear Bulma. We hope you and your companions are doing great out there. Even though we have been separated for longer periods of time before it feels so very different, knowing you're not even on the planet. We're both doing great; Mom's apple-pie won the farmers market's contest of fruit-pies. Dad has gotten a new project regarding robots building houses in the third world. We look forward to hear from you, but we are in contact with the military and hear there's still reports back home that you're all safe. Love Mom and Dad."

Bulma fought to hold back tears, suddenly overwhelmed with loneliness and homesickness. The last two week with aliens surrounding her, be it glaring angry men or the fearful Cucum, not a single being talking with her in a normal fashion had obviously bothered her more than she had been aware of. "Bulma, are you okay?" Niels somewhat concerned voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she quickly nodded.

"Yes I'm fine, thank you for reading it to me. Would you be so kind and write to them, that I'm doing fine and we've discovered far more than we could ever dream of. Write that I will tell them all about it when I get home, but it would be unwise to tell much via these messages. And that I love them." Niel nodded while looking down, obviously writing down what she said. A tiny diode began flashing at her shifter and even though she wasn't a hundred percent sure of the reason. She quickly ended the conversation with Niel. "I think someone's coming, I gotta go."

Seconds after cutting the line she slowly turned around to look in the direction of the village. If his hair had not been golden she wouldn't have spotted him right away, his figure easily camouflaged by the surrounding trees. Even though she had been alone with him before Bulma somehow felt uncomfortable being isolated in the woods with Vegeta.

"Out for some fresh air?" His seemingly innocent question was hiding an underlying suspicion, which his voice could not hide.

"I could ask you the same thing." She tried to keep her cool but was completely aware of her pulse skyrocketing at the moment. It hadn't settled during the chat with Niel and the vibe she got from Vegeta seemed like one of a predator, much like she had felt the first time she met him. And she was certain he could hear it.

"Who were you talking to?" His stern voice and out-of-the-blue question showed he did not have any intention of playing games. Bulma's throat went dry.

"That is none of your business, Vegeta," she said as calm and collected as she could. "But if you're so curious, I was in contact with my servants. Just know this, another time I won't be so forgiving if you try to meddle too much in my affairs." She knew she was saying too much, talking too harsh and in general close to losing her composure.

"Ice cold the first day, somewhat caring towards Cucum afterwards and now you're losing your temper. I thought an all-mighty goddess would be more calm and collected." He was smirking while mocking her. "Perhaps there's something you're hiding, oh mighty goddess? Is that why your heart is beating so fast?"

"Watch your tongue, Vegeta, or I will leave you in the same fashion I left Nappa when I arrived." Even though she had felt like not using the shifter like that again she could feel she had no problem doing it to him at the moment. Just talking with Niel, another human being, hearing the letter from her parents and suddenly realizing how lonely she was had thrown her feeling into chaos and her common sense the same way.

Vegeta's smirk became stiffer and it seemed he tensed up from the threat of being paralyzed once again. But his gaze somewhat kept its pride-full vibe, and it seemed like he dared her do it with his eyes. For a few moments they stared at each other until Bulma no longer could stand staring into the hard blue eyes. She took her arms behind her back, preparing to power down if it had to be used. The movement made Vegeta's eyes flinch for a moment, before he stared at her once again, this time with something darker lurking in his blue pools.

"Goodnight Vegeta," she said as calmly as she could and moved past him. She had taken a few steps before she felt a pressure like a strong wind hitting the back of her head and the sound of a quick attempt to gain foothold. Bulma turned around and looked at Vegeta for a second before raising her hand, pointing her shifter at him and powering him down.

His roars of pain and anger somehow calmed her down – it was like the feeling of control over another being put her own pain and loneliness at ease. At the same time feelings of horror and disgust filled her while watching him spasm at the ground a few feet away, seeing how his body struggled as the color of his hair switched back and forth from yellow to black until it stayed black. His body became still and the only sound escaping him was low moans of agony.

Not knowing what else to do Bulma turned on her heels, walked out of the forest, got into the air and made her way back to the village, trying to ignore how bad she felt about what she had done.

* * *

The following morning Bulma was woken by the roar of Nappa as he barged through the front door: "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THE HOLY!?" Frightened by the giant man and panicking by what might have happened when she left Vegeta alone, Bulma got a bit too quickly out of the bed with a look of horror across her face.

She quickly got her facial muscles under control, which could not be said about her panic. "What do you mean, Nappa?" Her voice didn't shake as much as she had feared it would.

"He isn't to be found anywhere and the guards told me he left the village after you but you returned alone. What. Have. You. Done?" He almost spat the last words out – a vein in his forehead was showing so clearly Bulma feared it might burst if he got any angrier.

"He and I had a talk and he had to stay alone for some time to think about our conversation. I believed he would return when he had given it some thought, perhaps he is still contemplating some of the points we discussed." She hoped the brute would be taken a bit back by what she said, but it seemed to almost do the opposite. If she did not know better she would expect his eyes to pop out of the sockets any moment. "Nappa take some men and search just around the city, I will search for him in another way."

The giant man looked at her for some time before nodding reluctantly and leaving the house. With a somewhat heavy heart Bulma sat down at the bed and opened the menu of her shifter. She recollected seeing somewhere in all the shifter's menus and settings something about being able to track energy levels of all lifeforms and even narrowing it down to specific species if the shifter had been calibrated.

A few minutes later she had found what she sought and could see the shifter had been calibrated to a bunch of species, luckily including saiyans. She activated the setting and the screen showed a lot of small red dots all around her. Quickly she left the house and got into the air, having made this one of the quickbuttons of the shifter. She flew towards the small collections of trees she had left Vegeta in, but the small dot at the edge of her shifter only seemed to get a bit bigger but not closer to her. After some time where she flew around trying to get closer to the ever growing dot at the edge of the screen, Bulma suddenly found herself hovering above the grand temple. The dot had started moving closer to the center of the shifter's screen as she flew, and now it was almost perfectly centered. Cautiously she descended to the top step of the stairs and looked into the darkness. The ominous feeling she had gotten the last time hit her as soon as she set foot into the temple. Only a few steps into the temple she suddenly felt a jerk in the shifter and a weird sensation hit her for a second. Qaklu's warning of using the shifter in the temple came to mind, but she dismissed it – it was a way of respecting the saiyans religious belief, and right now no saiyan was in sight. Bulma looked at the shifter but the dot seemed to jump around while changing size, as if Vegeta was jumping here and there while his energy changed. She thought the shifter might have been hit by a malfunction and closed the program quickly, fearing it could stress the device enough for it to shut down completely – leaving her in 10 times earth's gravitational pull with nothing to help her survive it.

* * *

Lalun sat at his desk pondering the situation at Planet Vegeta. He hadn't gotten much information from the humans – it seemed the woman was alone on the planet and her companions had only been in contact with her once to read a letter from Earth. He could see what she did with her shifter, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. Her use of the energy-radar had puzzled him, but he could not just contact her and ask her since that would tell her she was being watched.

Qaklu was getting impatient, but Lalun tried to calm down his superior by stating the humans needed more time. They had only been in contact with the saiyans for 15 days, and it was their first time interacting with alien races in the way they did. But actually he was even more impatient and anxious than Qaklu. The older man had a great deal of insight and interest in the saiyan race, after all it was the greatest asset of his quadrant – but he still had to focus on other tasks and other planets, while Lalun only had this one to think about. And at the moment all he had was a lowly human with no idea of the real purpose of the azkurians' help in her quest. They had not yet found an agent fitting the criteria for being sent down on Planet Vegeta. He had even tried to see if he could become humanoid, but it only worked for two hours and then he would need almost seven hours break before he could change again.

Lalun started looking through all the files he had about this project of his. They had been so close to their goal, but then war broke out and the azkurians had to leave the planet, unable to conduct their research. It had been so promising, the saiyans' energylevels had been easily to manipulate but the effect would only be temporary. But still, they had improved along the way, from only lasting a few minutes to an hour – even more depending on the specimen and what tools were used. Manipulating the level of fetuses had proven to be an effective way of getting an everlasting effect, even though caution had to be used. Manipulating too much had led to miscarriage or stillbirth – a few babies had died within their first living week since their bodies had experienced too much stress during the pregnancy-experiments. A few years after beginning those tests Lalun and his team had finally found the right way to manipulate the fetuses – making sure through readings during the hours before and after the procedure that the fetus hadn't taken any harm. They had pushed the boundaries, making greater and greater progress each time until they had gotten hold of the woman named Gine.

She had visited the Kebun village Lalun's agent had been shaman in. Her unborn child had been restless and the agent had taken her to the laboratory in the temple, telling Gine he would help her ask the ancestors to make the child hurt her less than he did at the time. As soon as she was sedated Lalun and his team had started working, checking their readings five times before accepting they were correct. The child's energylevel was almost twice as high as any they had ever seen. All other readings showed the child was healthy and balanced at all parameters. After much discussion Lalun had decided against almost his entire team to try and alter the fetus' energy. He had been careful, he believed he could not have done it differently, but something went wrong. Suddenly all readings of mother and child had skyrocketed just to drop down in the next instance. The azkurians had panicked, none of them had ever seen anything like it – just as they believed Gine had died her readings went up again, this happened so many times Lalun hadn't been able to keep track of it.

Suddenly it had all stopped. All Gine's readings went back to normal but the child's were almost at zero. They had tried to stabilize it, but it only resulted in Gine's readings to alter once again. The last resort was removing the child for further studies – the mother was only saved because her mate was leader of the Sarpam tribe. Lalun had asked the agent to fabricate some kind of believable story, knowing the woman had done so several times with great success. But this time her story had started something even the azkurians had not anticipated. A white lie turned into a horrible truth and a reason for war to take hold of the saiyan race.

Lalun sighed and stretched his limbs one at a time while thinking about what might have happened had he not decided to overrule his team just because of his seniority. Would Gine's child have become a Holy? Would he have been the missing clue to how the saiyans had this immense power? It was impossible to know, but he was certain the war would never had begun had he not done as he did. For such a lowly race it was actually surprising they had not had greater conflicts during the couple of decades he had spent at the planet. After working with other races for so many centuries he knew war was always a part of how civilizations evolved, so he did not feel any guilt or remorse igniting this one. Only disappointment that he had not yet reached his goal…

As he sat pondering one of the surveillance-cams he was monitoring suddenly became activated and he saw the entrance to the Grand Temple. Lalun got out of his seat and was surprised to see the human woman enter the temple alone. He quickly activated all his systems, checking the status of the active parts of the temple. After the incident with Gine the instruments had started acting out and the azkurians had encountered several problems with interferences between their shifters and the temple. Something they had never experienced before, and the high activity of saiyans seeking the ancestors' guidance during wartime had made it almost impossible for them to figure out what was going on. The humans' shifters had been affected by this too, even though they had not been used in any way except camouflage and anti-gravitation inside the temple. He had even seen the temple's instruments acting out as soon as the humans had entered. Minutes passed by with only small alternations of the shifter and instruments' numbers, but suddenly the human's shifter started acting up. He could see it sent several error-messages, covering almost every feature it had, even those she had never used.

Lalun activated his shifter and contacted Qaklu. His superior's face came into sight in an instance. "Sir, I believe you should get down here immediately. The human has entered the temple." Without answering Qaklu cut the line but only moments later he entered Lalun's lab.

"Why has she entered the temple?" Qaklu was looking at the readings of the instruments, everything was acting chaotically.

"I do not know, maybe someone has entered the temple when I wasn't here. Let me just check." As Lalun was about to see when the camera had been activated last and why the live-feed came to live once again.

In silent astonishment the two azkurians watched Vegeta leaving the temple caring an unconscious, non-camouflaged Bulma in his arms.

* * *

**Da-da-dummmmmm! (My take on suspension-music…) We've almost reached the point I'm looking most forward to write, so if you're lucky there might be an update soon. And I know now why I've told myself not to write when I've been busy. I always get caught up in it and can't put it down – and it's not very clever to sit and write until past midnight when you have to get up and go to lectures at 8 am…. But I hope to find a way to write sometimes, I've really missed it!**


End file.
